London - Two bottles of champagne are on ice in the luxury hotel suite looking out over Shanghai, but Jose Mourinho has nothing to celebrate yet.
‘I will try to do my work to make the owners realise that I’m the right guy for this job - but in this moment I’ve just played Wigan Athletic,’ he says.
The high-rise Kerry Hotel could not seem much further from the DW Stadium where Mourinho took charge of his first match - and first win - as Manchester United manager last weekend.
But ahead of his second game against Borussia Dortmund in the Shanghai Stadium on Friday, the 53-year-old is already beginning to feel at home in his new job.
It’s not just the red T-shirt he’s wearing or, indeed, the red smartphone cover either.
Mourinho first announced himself to English football as the upstart coach of Porto in 2004, when Costinha’s last-minute goal consigned United to defeat in the Champions League and sent the young coach on a celebratory dash down the Old Trafford touchline. Now, 12 years on, Mourinho acknowledges it may always have been his destiny to manage United.
‘I remember playing at Old Trafford and the way to the dugout was always nice,’ he says. ‘It was never like in other stadiums. There was always a connection.
‘Then can you end up being their manager one day or not. I always felt that what has to happen happens - and it happened, so.
‘Every club I was at, I was always playing against Manchester United - with Porto, Inter (Milan), Real Madrid, always; Champions League matches, big matches. Then with Chelsea; matches to decide the title, FA Cup finals, Community Shields. Always finals, always important matches.
‘I’ve played so many times against Manchester United and what I felt was - and you know this is not easy with me - so many matches but with no problems. Not a yellow card, not a red card, not an offensive word.’
It’s pointed out to him that was not exactly the case when he first encountered Sir Alex Ferguson all those years ago.
‘That was him, not me! It was him,’ exclaims Mourinho, bursting into schoolboy laughter during his first interview as United manager with the national newspapers.
‘So I always had that good feeling, for sure, and I think the fans feel the same. They believe I can help the club. I have the feeling that the players want me.
‘I’m not saying they didn’t want (Mourinho’s predecessor) Louis van Gaal. I’m saying since I arrived I feel they are very fine with my way of work.’
United’s players looked happy in a way they rarely did under Van Gaal as they trained in the heat of Shanghai yesterday, including Wayne Rooney, who will keep the captaincy under the new regime.
A couple of them are already familiar to Mourinho, like new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who will arrive in Manchester to start his pre-season training on Sunday. The former Inter striker has been called a mercenary in light of his lucrative move to Old Trafford, but Mourinho insists it was the lure of a fresh challenge rather than money that persuaded the Swede to join.
‘Let’s be honest, he’s very rich,’ says Mourinho. ‘He’s made money all his career, he’s won a lot of things. But the guy wanted this one more challenge.’
Another old face is Juan Mata, sold by Mourinho to United from Chelsea in 2014, and now on uncertain ground again after being told that he is unlikely to be a regular starter.
‘I sold him because he asked for that,’ insists Mourinho. ‘Nobody in my previous club wanted to push him. It was his decision.
‘He’s a talented player and I don’t promise places to anyone. So I think he wants to stay and, yes, there is space for him.’
Mourinho was ushered out of Stamford Bridge himself in December, keeping to a career pattern of staying at a club for no longer than three years. He would like that pattern to change at United.
‘I have the contract and for that the owners are happy,’ he says. ‘To give me a new contract I will be happy to do that because it’s what I want at this moment.’
In the meantime, he does not mask his ambitions for a club which has failed to challenge for the Premier League title since Ferguson won it in 2013. ‘I’m not going to hide behind three bad seasons or two seasons not even with fourth place,’ says Mourinho.
‘No, I want to win the title and I want my players to feel it. If at the end of the season anyone is better than us, then great. But now in this moment before the flag to start the race, I’m not going to say we don’t want to win.’
The champagne may not stay on ice for long.
Daily Mail